Hang Out
by AlyssaLies28
Summary: Kuwabara's place is quickly becoming the place to be. Unfortunately, the bed seems to be getting smaller and smaller!
1. The Bed

_This took so much longing than I thought. But I wanted to write a sweet little something, something between the four. They make a real good team._

Kuwabara wasn't quite sure when his room became the hang out spot for everyone. He knew is happened gradually and he knew it started, surprisingly, with Hiei.

During an easy mission to the Makai, the three of them, Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara, had been holding their ground against an army of mindless lower class demons; giving Yusuke enough time to kill the head honcho. Kurama was off to Kuwabara's right, whip whirling around him, bringing a swift end to many. Kuwabara himself was using every combination of his spirit sword he'd developed, even going so far as to pull out the spirit flyswatter.

Hiei was flittering from place to place, pausing only long enough to strike at the enemy then disappearing in a blink of the eye. From the collapsing hordes of demons dispersed at random across the vast field the battle was taking place, Kuwabara could only tell where Hiei had been. It was towards the end of the fight when a demon had been smart end to double back and circle around that Hiei had been injured. The demon had snuck up behind Kuwabara so as to slash at his exposed back.

Hiei saw this as an opportunity to humiliate Kuwabara with a rescue; springing forward with a manic grin on his face, Hiei missed Kuwabara's manipulation of this spirit sword. Just as Hiei was bringing his own sword down to slice the demon in half, Kuwabara's sword exploded through the demon's body and plunged through Hiei's shoulder.

Kuwabara stared in horror as blood flew from Hiei's nearly amputated shoulder as it wobbled to and fro with the movements of his fall. A few heartbeats had passed, Kuwabara's strong and fast with adrenaline and Hiei's slowing as blood spilled from him, before Kurama was notified of the Hiei's dire circumstances through the holler of regret and anguish that finally worked its way free of Kuwabara's choked throat.

Hiei was dead silent.

It was Kuwabara's room the four flew into covered in blood, some their own, more from the enemy, but most was Hiei's. Kurama had already stopped the bleeding back in the Makai. He was working on knitting back the gaping wound the best he could with a needle and thread Shizuru'd gotten from her sewing kit when Yukina and Genkai arrived. It took hours, but the combined work of the three saved Hiei's life and his arm; which was basically an extension of his life because if he couldn't fight than he would see no reason to live.

Throughout the entire process, Kuwabara sat in the corner outta the way, staring at Hiei's bloodied figure. He was hunched over as if he'd collapse into himself at any moment (probably the moment Hiei would have died) and his hands were clutched in front of his mouth, a heavy coating of blood covering them. Kuwabara's eyes were wide and had a certain wild, panic look to them, the kinda look one saw on cornered animals.

Yusuke stood to the side of Kuwabara; lending his support with the hand he had gripping the stretch of flesh in between Kuwabara's shoulder and neck. He was careful not to touch Kuwabara's shoulders in anyway, but Kuwabara still felt the pain in his shoulders as if it were his own that had been torn off.

It was there in Kuwabara's room, in his very own bed that Hiei remained for a week. Once Hiei woke up, he was up on his feet and bursting through Kuwabara's window in an instant. Kuwabara was left to hang half way out the window, jagged shards cutting into his stomach, with an out stretched hand towards Hiei's falling form. One five story drop, two broken legs, and three people crowded around to heal him again had Hiei firmly planted in Kuwabara's bed, courtesy of one of Kurama's plant, for the next three week.

Afterwards Hiei never really left. Well, he did, but he always came back. Hiei'd grow custom of a permanent residence. Even one where he shared a twin bed with Kuwabara, something Hiei was beginning to really like. The fact that Kuwabara pampered him, mostly from guilt but partly because he liked to see Hiei smile when he'd make him a meal he'd really liked, also swayed him into staying.

The next to take up a semi-permanent residence in Kuwabara's room was Kurama.

November had come barreling into the city and with it all kinds of colds and sickness. While staying out late with Yusuke and hitting up the arcade, Kuwabara had what seemed like a small pond splashed all over him by a passing car. Yusuke, who had a sense when it came to vehicles ever since his firth death, stood off to the side at a safe range from the edge of the sidewalk with not a drop on him. Drenched from orange topped head to toe, Kuwabara chased after a hysterically laughing Yusuke, curls slipping from its wet gelled cocoon and streaming behind him.

The next morning had Kuwabara curled up under a mountain of covers, the occasional sniffle or cough making its muffled way through. For the first two day Kuwabara was pretty much left to his own, Shizuru checking in on him every so often, usually to give him homework that she demanded he do now rather than later.

On the third day Kuwabara heard the door to his room open. Expecting it to be Shizuru with breakfast or Hiei to keep him company, Kuwabara shifted a cover around and poked out his head, wincing at the cold air. Instead of his sister, there stood Kurama quietly toeing off his shoes so as to not awake Kuwabara's huddled form.

Kuwabara was floored at the sight. For one, it was midmorning on a Wednesday and Kurama was apparently skipping school; skipping without it being because of a mission. Kurama also happened to be wearing a ratty old teal bathrobe over top his blue and orange pinstripe pajamas. A quick glance to the floor showed that the shoes Kurama had just slipped off were, in fact, hot pink bunny slippers. It would be years still before Kuwabara accepted Kurama's hodgepodge sense of nighttime wardrobe. The last thing that Kuwabara noticed, and it was hard to see pass Kurama's garish clothes choice, was the sheen of sweat and the flush of red across Kurama's face. Kuwabara had never known Kurama to be sick. He didn't really think it possible.

"What you doin' here, Kur'ma" Kuwabara muttered with a slur. Kurama gave a start, surprised that Kuwabara was awake. A watery smile was sent his way with a replied, "Mother pampers me so whenever I suffer from any aliment. Thought I'd come here to clear my head."

Kuwabara nodded his assent and scooted over. Pulling a part of the blankets from under himself, Kuwabara opened up his nice warm cover cocoon for Kurama to join in. Kurama blinked in surprise, having thought he'd recline in the chair by the desk in the corner, but quickly took to loving offer before Kuwabara retracted it.

Kurama greatly disliked when people referred to him in a girlie manner; he was beginning to regret about growing his hair out and on more than one occasion thought of just chopping off the damned thing. He was careful to avoid tossing his hair over his shoulder, even when it was annoying him, and he had a strict 15 minute time limit in the bathroom to get all the essentials done. He did not want to be perceived as a female. So when he settled under the covers and Kuwabara snuggled into his side, it was with a burst of pure male pride swelling in his chest that Kurama wrapped his arms around Kuwabara's fevered body. He even went so far as to let Kuwabara use one of his arms as a pillow.

After a while of glorifying in the testosterone boost, Kurama grudgingly asked, "Where's Hiei at?"

Kurama felt Kuwabara jump in his arm and cursed at having woke him up. Kuwabara breathed a sigh that ruffled Kurama's crimson hair. "Went to spy on Yukina for the day. Weirdo. If I did tha' ta Shizuru she'd hit me til I was black and blue for'a week."

"You know about Hiei and Yukina?" Kurama asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Hiei told me," Said Kuwabara a bit more clearly, waking up. His stomach gave off a growl which was echoed by Kurama's stomach. Both boys laughed, Kurama falling into a cough.

"I'll go make a brunch for us. Least I could do," Kurama said as he shuffled to the bed's edge and pushed himself up, making sure to keep Kuwabara covered up, "since I'm crashing with you."

Just as Kurama got to the door, Kuwabara let out a groan, gathered up all the covers off the bed and followed after Kurama. Walking into the kitchen Kurama chuckled at the Kuwabara ball piled in the corner.

When Shizuru got home that night, she came home to the sight of a destroyed kitchen. There was flour in clumps all along the countertops, sauce and crumble stuck to the stove top, every cabinet or drawer was partially open, piles and piles of pots, pans, and plates were in the sink with food crusted onto then. Shizuru took one look at the mess and went on the man hunt. She didn't have to go far to find the culprits.

In the living she saw Kuwabara and Kurama on a makeshift cover pallet, collapsed on top of one another and in what appeared to be a snoring contest. By far Kurama was winning. Grinning, she ran to get the camcorder. Shizuru had a cigarette lit between her lips when she came back in to videotape their sweet moment. When she got a significant amount of blackmail material, Shizuru flicked off the camera and went to get out the mop. Just this once she's let this slid and cleaned up after them.

After spending a week huddled together fighting off their cold and talking about everything ranging to what kind of plants Kurama liked to tend to which video game release Kuwabara was looking forward to, the two discovered the great joy they had in common. Both boys absolutely loved to cook. Kuwabara from not being able to stomach the stuff Shizuru tried to make and Kurama because there were so many ways to incorporate his plants into them.

From that time on, Kurama could be seen coming over to the Kuwabara household every day after school. Kurama tended to prepare extravagant meals, whereas Kuwabara would perfect the more simple 'grandma's cooking' meals. More often than not Kurama's mother and Yusuke would be invited over to share in the meal.

Hiei, used to the cozy company of just him and Kuwabara, tried to discourage Kurama from staying the night over on the, frequent, times he'd stay so late helping clean up after dining or studying. His first act of rebellion came when Kuwabara, in a gesture to make Kurama feel more welcomed, set up a dozen or so potted plants in his room. Hiei pushed them out the window.

It wasn't until Hiei actually bothered to taste a bite of one of Kurama's meals, previously having eaten meals cooked by Kuwabara, that Hiei decided Kurama's presence wasn't all bad. The only problem was the tight fit of squeezing three boys onto a single twin bed at night.

The oddest happenstance of occupying Kuwabara's room, was when Yusuke started to come by more and more.

It was dinner time at the Kuwabara residence which meant Kuwabara was cutting up chicken, Hiei was sitting on the counter next to him watching his every movements, and Kurama was on Kuwabara's other side mixing together the dough for pizza. Not one of their more elegant meals, but it was Hiei's turn to pick what they had. At this lull in daily routine, Yusuke came barging in unannounced.

This was a fairly common thing for Yusuke to do, especially on a pizza night. However, the graffitied turtle he carried in his arms was new. Everyone paused in their activity to stare at the sight. Yusuke was a little worse for wear, probably a good old fashion street brawl. The turtle too was rather rugged, sporting a green makeshift bandaged from Yusuke's torn sleeve around its front leg.

"That pizza isn't gonna make itself!" Yusuke bit out. He marched over to the table and plopped into a seat, settling the turtle carefully on the table. Kurama and Kuwabara resumed making dinner. Hiei jumped from Kuwabara's side to the table with the turtle to settle down behind it.

"What is that writing on it for?" Hiei asked.

"Some kids being dicks. Set them straight, I did." Yusuke got up from the table. "Watch Humphry for me," he said, walking out the room.

Kurama and Kuwabara exchanged amusing looks, Kurama mouthing 'Humphry' with one eyebrow cocked and Kuwabara answering with a shrug. At the table Hiei had picked up Humphry and was cradling him in his arms. Caressing the vandalized shell, Hiei pitied the poor creature. Yusuke returned with two brushes in hand. He first went to the fridge and brought out a head of lettuce, then made his way back to Hiei and Humphry. Placing a toothbrush in Hiei's hand and the lettuce in front of Humphry, Yusuke used the brush he had to start scrubbing the paint off of the turtle's shell. Seeing what Yusuke was trying to do, Hiei followed suit.

In the time it took for Kurama and Kuwabara to finish making the pizza and for them to cook it in the oven, Hiei and Yusuke managed to clean Humphry up, making him look like a brand new turtle.

"Can he stay here with you, Kuwabara? I'd take him home, but I don't think alcohol and turtle mix very well," Yusuke said. Hiei answered in Kuwabara's place. "Absoluetly."

Kuwabara smiled. "Yeah. Now Eikichi'll have a friend other than Kurama's plants to play with!"

"Hopefully she'll stop digging up the dirt in my pots." Kurama remarked.

In order to get Humphry adjusted to his new living arrangements, Yusuke ended up spending the night with Kuwabara. As the four boys lay down to sleep there was a great amount of pushing and shoving between them. Kuwabara and Yusuke got into a pillow fight that ended up on the floor before everyone was settled. Kuwabara was hanging half off the bed, Hiei was stretched across the foot of it, Yusuke was in the middle with his head resting on Hiei's stomach and feet shoved into Kurama's hair, and Kurama was on the far side crammed against the wall. Unbelievably, everyone deemed themselves comfortable and were asleep within minutes.

After sharing a small bed between the four of them for three nights in a row, Kuwabara was fed up. He grabbed Kurama's wallet from the hall table and wrestled Yusuke's from the back of the boy's pocket. With money in toll and determination in his eye, Kuwabara set off, Hiei tagging along. Hours later, the duo returned to the questions of their friends.

"So'd you go get that new game, man?" Yusuke asked with excitement, having already planned staying up all night kicking Kuwabara'a ass level after level. Kuwabara shook his head.

"Did you run by and pick up that spice we needed for dinner tomorrow night?" Kurama asked.

"We did that too," Hiei replied. Yusuke was confused. "Well what the Hell else you get? Beers and Bitches?"

Kuwabara hit Yusuke up side the head. "Don't talk about girls like that, Urameshi! We got something we could all share." Yusuke rubbed his head, venturing again, "Bitches and Beers?"

"No. A bigger bed!" Kurama cried out. "Hell yeah!" Kuwabara shouted, breaking into a smile. "Now let's go lug it in!"

As the four ran out to bring in the new bed, Eikichi blinked lazily from her position on Humphry's back. Curling into a ball on his back, Eikichi was lulled to sleep was the gently swaying of Humphry's wondering, both oblivious to the ruckus the boys were causing switching out beds and, in Kuwabara and Yusuke's case, jumping on the new. Kurama moved his plants aside to make room with a grin, while Hiei shook out the new sheets and let them fall to drape over the bouncing buffoons.


	2. Dance Fever

_And the hang out continues! Can Hiei stay sane surrounded my Yusuke and Kuwabara's eccentric friendship?! Will Kurama have a bigger part in the next chapter? Find out!_

"I will burn this place to the _fucking_ ground," Hiei growled in annoyance.

Looking back on the last several hours, he didn't understand how he got to this point.

The day had started out normal enough; wake up only to promptly kick Yusuke's ass off of the bed, even though the bed the four of them shared was big enough not to warrant such actions. Hiei just liked to fuck around with the greased hair punk.

After rudely waking up Yusuke, Hiei would then blame Kuwabara as the perpetrator of the action. Watching Yusuke punch Kuwabara awake every morning was like opening a present each day. It was a beautiful thing to watch the snoring orangette emerge from dead sleep into a full on brawl within the span of a second. The abrupt call to attack and defend fondly reminded Hiei of his childhood.

Then Hiei would wait, actually _wait_, for Kuwabara to stumble into the kitchen and start on breakfast. This was a time Hiei greatly enjoyed. When he had first taken up residence at the Kuwabara stronghold, Hiei was able to be in Kuwabara's presence for hours on end, without interruption. Granted, the beginning of his stay was forced and spent incapable of much movement, Hiei was shocked that he could come to associate Kuwabara with a sense of ease and relaxation.

And awe.

Kuwabara lived in a way that Hiei had never imagined. The orange-haired man lived his life with peace and honor. Instead of constantly fighting, training, and anticipating the next grand battle, Kuwabara worked to better himself and not in just a physical way, though he did that too. No, Kuwabara had hobbies, things to do that he found meaningful, studies, _friends_.

And he could see that Kuwabara was not just a fighter or even predominately a fighter like he, Kurama, and Yusuke. He was so much more and had the potential to be anything.

Hiei had never meet someone that had so much potential. That Kato kid would be a scholar, his genius level smarts already locking him into place. Hiei would always be a fighter. His bloodlust, while tamer and more under his conscious control, would always drive him into battles.

For a while, Hiei got to see it all. He got to see _Kuwabara_.

Then Kurama came along, Yusuke following closely behind, dwindling the amount of time Hiei could spend with Kuwabara down to almost nothing.

But breakfast was _his_ time. While Kurama showered and Yusuke inevitably falling about asleep for a few more hours, Hiei got to watch from his position on the kitchen counter top as Kuwabara made enough food to feed three demons and his own self. A truly remarkable task made even more extraordinary by how quickly he prepared the food and how delicious everything was. Shizuru was usually at her job already and really joined for breakfast.

Sometimes the entire cooking process was spent in comfortable silence, each other's mere presence being enough to satisfy the both. More often than not, Kuwabara would ask Hiei a variety of questions from demon culture to asking about his childhood. One thing Kurama had taught Hiei about dealing with humans is that their curiosity is easily squashed with a few choice words. Occasionally Hiei would even venture a few questions of Kuwabara's past.

Yes, the day had started as usual, until Yusuke had thrown a wrench into the whole process. Instead of curling up in the bed to sleep another few hours, the mazuka chose to accompany Hiei in watching Kuwabara prepare breakfast. Only instead of watching he was helping. And instead of helping he was actually fucking everything up.

So, Hiei's usual morning routine changed from a peaceful moment with Kuwabara to traversing a human market place on an empty stomach.

Hiei growled under his breath and glared straight ahead, scaring the shit out of the innocent people in front of him. Being in this filth hole was bad enough without having the street punk duo with him to add to the shit. Kuwabara alone was good, Yusuke alone was fine, but the two together wore on his nerve. They feed off each other's stupidity until they both turned into insipid morons.

"I'm just saying, I asked you to set the table," Kuwabara muttered darkly, pushing the shopping cart full of groceries down the aisle.

Yusuke rolled his eyes and sneered. "I fucking did."

"You set it on fire," Hiei deadpanned from his place perched on the end of the cart.

"Yeah! I set the damn thing!" Yusuke reinforced.

"Well, now we're outta a meal and a table! You don't come cheap, Urameshi," Kuwabara yelled, pausing to punch Yusuke in the back of the head.

"Get off my dick, man! I was trying to help!" Yusuke yelled back, slipping his arms around Kuwabara's torso and flipping him face down onto the ground.

"'Sides I got this covered." Yusuke snickered as he held a wad of cash into Kuwabara's face. Kuwabara's eyes widened.

"Whoa! What'd ya do beat down a gangbanger?! You know I don't take your stolen castoffs," Kuwabara said, jumping back to his feet and facing off with Yusuke. Hiei sighed as they started into _another_ fight. Why did he allow these two fools to drag him here.

"No! Geez, I keep that stash for myself."

"So, then what?"

Yusuke slung his arm around Kuwabara's shoulders and pulled him in closer to him. "Well, you know that new catchy song?" asked Yusuke in a conspiracy whisper.

Hiei looked at the duo from over his shoulder. He blushed a little at remembering Kuwabara pulling him in a similar position this morning in order to ask him to accompany him and Yusuke to the store in order to keep an eye on Yusuke's five finger discount.

Hiei jumped from the end of the cart to the top of one of the aisle to get away from the two bubbling idiots as they discussed songs.

"The one that goes dun-dun-ba-beee-ba-dee-dah," Kuwabara sung.

"No, no. The one that's all na-na-na, be-bop-be-bop-be-boo, cha!" Yusuke sang while demonstrating a few dance moves.

"Ohhhhh, that one that starts with that fast pace dance temp and there's that video of a kid dancing like this," Kuwabara tried to confirm by doing a ridiculous jig.

"Yeah, yeah! Then goes all crazy into it!" Now Yusuke was pirouetting circles around Kuwabara.

"Then starts doing all these weird things on the ground!" Kuwabara collapsed to the ground in what looked like a mix between a seizure and humping the floor while Yusuke started moon walking and doing the robot pass him.

The sound of Kuwabara's cell phone going off going off did nothing to stop their dance competition. With a growl of annoyance, Hiei jumped down a fished the shrill object from the basket part of the cart.

"What!" he bit out as he answered the call. There was a hesitant silence on the other end before Kurama spoke up.

"Hiei? What on earth are you doing with Kuwabara's phone? Is everything alright?"

"Oh, just peachy," Hiei snarled turning away from the sickening sight of a crowd forming around Yusuke attempting and failing to do the worm and Kuwabara doing the sprinkler. "We're just at what the humans call a market place. Did you know they are indoors and largely understocked."

"Yes, I suspected that is where you departed to when I discovered the charred remains of the table. Did Yusuke anger you?"

"It was the fool who did it!"

"Oh, really? I was not expecting that."

"As much as this mindless conversation is helping me avoid looking at those two dancing idiots, what do you want." Hiei snapped, gripping the phone tighter. He backed off his grip when he heard the protesting creak.

"I simply wanted to ask Kuwabara is he would pick up the required ingredients for tonight, but I didn't know if he and I should make the lamb or the pork chops. Did you say dancing?"

Hiei pulled the phone away from his ear, already tired of having Kurama's voice in his head. In fact he was tired of the headache that had taking up residence in his head ever since the dancing had started.

"Lamb or chops," Hiei barked at dancing duo as they were impressively krump dancing with each other. Hiei's harsh words served to scare away a few humans blocking his view of Yusuke and Kuwabara, but didn't seem to affect either of them. If anything, it served to fuel their behavior as they began to break dance.

Hiei placed the phone next to his ear again and yelled, "I don't know Kurama! They won't stop fucking break dancing!" before ending the call and throwing the phone back into the cart.

He turned to Yusuke and Kuwabara, eye twitching to see they were attempting to perform spins on their head.

"I do not care what laws spirit world has in effect," Hiei began dangerously, "I will burn this place to the _fucking_ ground."

"What?!" Kuwabara yelped and fell flat on his back. Yusuke gracefully flipped back onto his feet and took a bow to the clapping crowd. As everyone dispersed, Hiei watched as Yusuke bent down and picked up the money people had thrown to the ground.

"And that, my friends, is how you pay for a table," said Yusuke smugly.

"Awesome! Now we can just pick up lamb and chops!" Kuwabara smiled as he pushed the cart down the aisle again, Yusuke walking beside him.

Hiei stared after them with a dumbfound expression, wondering how these two ever made it into adulthood.

"Natural selection my ass," Hiei mumbled as he fleeted to the cart and took up his customary position as sentry on the edge.


	3. Bathroom Breakdown

_Another installment! Originally planned on Yusuke filling in a more prominent role, but Kurama needed to be more assertive. Assertively nice! Enjoy~ _

Five people.

Two bedrooms.

One. Fucking. Bathroom.

Kurama wiggled in discomfort, crossing and uncrossing his legs as he stood outside the bathroom door. How was it that one woman could occupy a bathroom for over an hour! What was there to do in the bathroom that would require so much privacy time?!

Kurama saw Yusuke poke his head out the bedroom door and snicker at him. Kurama growled at him and turned away.

"Man, if you gotta go so bad, just use the kitchen sink," said Yusuke.

Kurama turned back around shocked and disgusted. "That's deplorable! Kuwabara and I use that sink for the cooking and cleaning!"

"So what! I've taken a leak in there before!" Yusuke confessed.

"What?! Did you at least disinfect the sink afterwards?" Kurama asked in a panic. He didn't want to imagine all the dishes he and Kuwabara had prepared in the remnants of Yusuke's waste.

"Fuck no! That's woman shit that Kuwabara does!"

"Yusuke!"

"And now you're bitchin' at me like Keiko! For fuck's sake, if I knew you were gonna be so prissy I would have went over to her house today! At least then I wouldn't have to listen to you moaning about your bladder!" Yusuke yelled storming down the hall pass Kurama.

Kurama followed after Yusuke, still reprimanding him for his actions. "Yusuke, that's unsanitary! We don't clean the sink before every use! Think about what we're eating!"

Kurama watched as Yusuke grabbed his jacket, slammed open the door, and walked out pass a surprised Kuwabara.

"Uh, heeeey," Kuwabara trailed off, hand half raised in greeting to Yusuke. Kurama scowled at Yusuke's childish way of running from his problems, at least when it came to his social problems. His eyes flickered to Kuwabara as the man leaned over the railing and called down to Yusuke. He hated the confused expression on Kuwabara's faced when he turned to look at him searchingly.

"Rest assured, it was nothing that you did, Kuwabara," said Kurama. Kuwabara scratched at his head.

"Then what's he's deal," Kuwabara asked, stepping into the apartment and closing the door. Kurama sighed heavily.

"Just…Yusuke stuff."

Kuwabara chuckled as he placed his keys and change on the entrance table. "Yeah, when isn't it Yusuke stuff."

Kurama trailed behind Kuwabara, both walking down the hall towards the living room, by passing the dining room and kitchen.

"Yes, well, I believe we should take to the practice of thoroughly scrubbing the sink before every use."

Kuwabara came to a stop at the bathroom door. "The sink? In the kitchen?"

"Yes."

Kuwabara shook his head and opened the door. Steam billowed out and the soft sound of the shower reached Kurama's ears. Kurama blushed as Kuwabara walked into the bathroom, leaving the door wide open behind him.

"Hear that, Sis. Kurama's puttin' up some kinda rule for the sink that's ta do with Urameshi," said Kuwabara as he reached to unbuckle and unbutton his pants.

Kurama stood awkwardly in the hallway, not knowing what to make of the situation. He'd waited at least an hour for Shizuru to vacate the bathroom so he could make use of the facility and Kuwabara just walks in and takes over.

The red of his checks spread to the rest of his face when Shizuru pulled back a part of the shower curtain to poke her head out. He discreetly turned away from the scene, though he could distinctly hear Kuwabara relieving himself while Shizuru spoke.

"Oh, believe me, I heard the lovely little lover's quarrel going on. Apparently Yusuke's been pissing in the sink," Shizuru said before retreating back into the shower. "Oh, and Kurama's been stalking the bathroom for a while."

"What?!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Believe me, I was just as surprised as you are," Kurama said as he faced a fully clothed Kuwabara in the midst of washing his hands.

"Not that! Urameshi's done more messed up stuff before. Why are you stalking the bathroom? You don't gotta chrush on Shizuru do you? That's just sick!"

"Gee, thanks," Shizuru deadpanned from the shower.

"No, no, no!" Kurama exclaimed, walking into the bathroom to clarify. "Not that I don't find you attractive, Shizuru. It's just…weird." He chanced a glance at the shower curtain and promptly turned away, embarrassed.

"I…I just needed to use the restroom. That's all," mumbled Kurama, deciding whether or not to just pack up and spend a few nights at his mother's house until this all blew over.

"That all!" Kuwabara questioned with a weird look. Kurama nodded an affirmation. "Door's not locked. Just gotta come in."

"But, Shizuru's in here! I am not her brother or as close as you and she are. I fear it may be…awkward."

Kuwabara glanced around the bathroom. "Sooooo…is this awkward now?"

Kurama paused to take in the fact that he was indeed inside of the bathroom, all the while Shizuru was showering. "Now that you mention it, marginally so."

At that time, Shizuru shut off the water, threw open the shower curtain, and stepped out. "I can't stand all this talking. Man up, Kurama."

With that, Shizuru snapped her towel free from the towel rack and wrapped it around herself as she exited the bathroom.

Kurama stood frozen. Seeing Shizuru naked produced the same feelings as what he would imagine seeing his mother naked would. Annnnnd now he was picturing his mother naked.

Kuwabara patted Kurama's shoulder. "You really do need to man up," he said and walked away.

Kurama sighed, glanced at the open door, shrugged, and turned to the toilet. If that's how things ran in the Kuwabara household, then he could follow their customs. As Yoko, he'd never been shy about matters such as this, but his human mother was fairly conservative in raising him.

Kurama sighed in relief as he finally relieved himself, a small smile of satisfaction gracing his face.

"You've managed to accomplish what everyone is this house was already doing. Congratulations, you're the most socially retarded," Hiei said as he walked by the open door.

Kurama couldn't figure out how he'd never noticed the communal bathroom rule before.


End file.
